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Richard Wayne Snell
This page is incomplete. You can help by expanding it. Connection to the Oklahoma City Bombing Four days before the Snell's execution, he repeatedly predicted that there would be a bombing or an explosion on the day of his death.[http://extras.denverpost.com/bomb/report7.htm Denver Post, 5/12/1996 - Sources: Bombing was revenge''' by Howard Pankratz'] Prison official Alan Ables stated "''He said there was going to be a huge bombing, and not much more than that,"... "He didn't give any impression that it would be a domestic bombing or something overseas. Just that there would be some confusion as to who did it and the United States was going to blame someone in the Mideast"... "He commented at least once (in his last week) that he wished he wasn't leaving; he's like to stick around a few more weeks because he wanted to watch what was going to happen" in regard to a bombing, Ables said.Chicago Sun-Times, 7/2/1995 - Prisoner predicted blast before his execution by Allan LengelDemocrat and Chronicle - 7/2/1995 Detroit Free Press - 7/2/1995 Reno Gazette-Journal - 7/2/1995 News Record - 7/2/1995 The Times 7/2/1995 Alan Ables later appeared on the Canadian Television program The Fifth Estate, episode "The Company They Keep" 10/22/1996): WOOD: ..."About two weeks before the execution, Robert Millar warned the government about the significance of April 19th for the extreme right. Then the condemned man began issuing warnings of his own." Prison official Alan Ables: "A few days before the execution I began to hear things from the director, the wardens, just talk in the office that strange things were going on, Snell was talking strangely, he was, you know, making statements that were a little scary catastrophic events, things were going to happen. This date, April 19th, was going to be something that the governor would regret perhaps.""The Company They Keep" The Fifth Estate, Canadian Broadcasting Company | October 22nd, 1996 Transcript of television broadcast Ables again stated in 2003: "Some of the corrections officers heard (Snell) in a visitors' room talking with people, saying there would be a large explosion or event of some type. He said the immediate reaction would be to blame it on Middle Eastern types. This was prior,"The Washington Times, 2/12/2003 - FBI, ATF knew of supremacists' desires to attackCBS News, 2/13/2003 - What Feds Knew Before Okla. BombingAssociated Press, 2/11/2003 - Government had information suggesting Oklahoma City attack weeks before McVeigh struckAssociated Press, 2/12/2003 - U.S. had vague data about Okla. bombing by John SolomonAssociated press, 2/12/2003 - Oklahoma City attack: Did government know early? by John SolomonDaily Iowan 2/12/2003 - Feds were worried before Okla. blast by John SolomonAssociated Press 2/12/2003 - Govt. had information before Oklahoma City attack . According to a prison death-watch log, On April 18th, the day before his execution, Snell told a guard "In the next ten days, there will be hell to pay"Vibe, Nov 1997 - God City by Jonathan FranklinTabernacle of Hate: Seduction Into Right-Wing Extremism by Kerry NobleTerror from Within: The untold story behind the Oklahoma City bombing (2002) Snell told a guard on early April 19th that Arkansas Governor Jim Guy had picked a bad day for his execution.Vibe, Nov 1997 - God City by Jonathan Franklin According to a prison log, Snell watched live coverage of the Murrah building explosion with a prison guard. While enjoying a last meal of fried crappie, hush puppies, and a raw onion, he told the guard that Arkansas Governor Jim Guy had picked a bad day for his execution. A few minutes later, the guard noted that Snell was "smiling and chuckling" at the bombing reports. Albion Monitor 6/10/2001 - A Short History Of April 19, 1995, 9:02 by Jeff Elliott When it was his day to die, Snell was defiant. "Inmate Snell (says) today is a very significant day for various reasons and that Governor Jim Guy Tucker picked a bad day," a log entry by a prison guard read that morning. A few hours later, Snell was "smiling and chuckling" as he watched coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing -- according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, he had been predicting there would be an April 19 bombing or an explosion for four days. Newsweek 4/30/1995 - The View From The Far Rightby Tom Morganthau April 19, 1995, was the scheduled date for the execution of Richard Wayne Snell, a white supremacist who, like Weaver, is regarded as a movement "martyr." Snell, convicted of killing a pawnshop operator in Arkansas, was indeed executed some 12 hours after the Oklahoma City bombing-and after cryptically telling his executioners they had picked a bad day." The Sydney Morning Herald 4/29/1995 This year, April 19 was also the date another white supremacist, Richard Snell, was scheduled to be executed in Arkansas for murder. Snell died on time, about 12 hours after the Oklahoma bombing, after telling his guards they had "picked a bad day". If the heavily guarded Snell really did know that someone was about to bomb Oklahoma City's Federal building, it suggests a far wider right-wing extremist conspiracy than previously thought Unfortunately, Arkansas's capital punishment laws mean we will probably never know what he knew. Three minutes past noon on April 19, three hours after the Oklahoma City blast, Snell was watching television reports, and according to Snell's prison log, told a guard "today is a very significant day for various reasons." About 30 minutes later, the log stated that Snell was "smiling and chuckling" while continuing to watch television reports.Bombing plotted earlier? by Howard PankratzDenver Post - April 19 a nervous date by Howard PankratzDetroit Free Press, 7/2/1995 Reno Gazette-Journal, 7/2/1995 The Guardian, 5/5/2001 - Conspirators by Jon RonsonBBC - Timeline: Oklahoma bomb NY Daily News, 4/23/1995 - HIS HATRED SURVIVES by Michael Daly Alan Ables recalled "In the hours before his 9 p.m. execution, Snell chuckled and laughed as he watched television coverage of the Oklahoma City disaster"Denver Post 5/12/1996 - Sources: Bombing was revenge by Howard Pankratz. Robert Millar claimed that Snell was actually "appalled" by the television reports of the bombing.The New York Times 5/20/1995 - Oklahoma City Building Was Target Of Plot as Early as '83, Official Says by JO THOMAS and RONALD SMOTHERS"The Company They Keep" The Fifth Estate, Canadian Broadcasting Company | October 22nd, 1996 Transcript of television broadcast: https://app.box.com/s/ea5so5sm6i9i7x2taildr7wfwjzegarx/31/7600791618/62414550718/1 The Snell death-watch log notes that at 12:20 p.m., the day Snell was to die by lethal injection, the prisoner requested the TV be turned on. It records that what he watched was coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing. At 12:30, the log notes, Richard Wayne Snell smiled and chuckled. Robert Millar was with Snell later during his final hours. MILLAR: He had the same kind of feelings of empathy for the occupants of that building that I had. WOOD: Which was what on his part? MILLAR: Well, what a terrible thing to have innocent men, women and children killed. WOOD: Did he say that to you? MILLAR: Yes, indeed. WOOD: When? MILLAR: On the day of his execution. WOOD: He did. MILLAR: He's the one that raised the subject. He said, You heard about the bombing? WOOD: He told you he was upset, thought it was terrible. MILLAR: Yes. WOOD: It's interesting. We have the death-watch log, minute by minute... MILLAR: Yes. WOOD: ...which does record his reaction upon seeing the Oklahoma bombing on television in his cell. "News 4 special on the situation in Oklahoma. Inmate Snell watching newscast, smiling and chuckling", says the deathwatch log. MILLAR: Now, that could be, but.... WOOD: Why would he laugh at the Oklahoma bombing? MILLAR: I can't answer that. WOOD: And it doesn't bother you to know now that he did chuckle when he saw it on TV? That doesn't in any way change your view of the man? MILLAR: That's the way that guard recorded it. I have limited respect for some of those guards. WOOD: So he's wrong. MILLAR: He may be. WOOD: But he may be right. MILLAR: He may be. Snell's last spoken words, directed at Arkansas governor James Guy Tucker who was present before the execution, were reportedly "Well, I had a lot to say, but you have me at an inconvenience. My mind is blurred, but I'm going to say a couple of words.Tulsa World, 4/20/1995 - White Supremacist Executed For Murder in ArkansasAssociated Press, 4/20/1995 - Supremacist executed in death of Jewish manRome News-Tribune, 4/20/1995 - Arkansas executes white supremacist in '83 murderThe Galveston Daily News, 4/20/1995 The Index-Journal, 4/20/1995 Indiana Gazette,1/8/2002 - White supremacist put to death by by James Jefferson Desert News, 4/20/1995'' Governor Tucker, look over your shoulder. Justice is on the way (or "Justice is coming"The New York Times 4/21/1995 - White Supremacist Executed For Murdering 2 in ArkansasThe Spokesman-Review 5/20/1995 - Bombing Plot May Have Had Roots In Idaho Former Supremacist Says Oklahoma City Building Was Targeted During 1983 Hayden Lake Meeting by Jo Thomas And Ronald Smothers New York TimesThe Gadsden Times 5/21/1995 - Bombed building was target of plot as early as 1983 - N.Y. Times News Service). I wouldn't trade places with any of you or any of your political cronies. Hell has victory, I am at peace.''The Cincinnati Enquirer, 4/20/1995 Denver Post, 5/12/1996 - Sources: Bombing was revenge by Howard Pankratz"The Company They Keep" The Fifth Estate, Canadian Broadcasting Company | October 22nd, 1996 - Transcript of television broadcast: https://app.box.com/s/ea5so5sm6i9i7x2taildr7wfwjzegarx/31/7600791618/62414550718/1 WOOD: Just past 9 p.m. prison spokesman Alan Ables got the call confirming Snell was dead. ABLES (reading Snell's final words): "Look over your shoulder, justice is on the way. I wouldn't trade places with you... WOOD: He read Richard Wayne Snell's final words. ABLES: ...hell has victory. I am at peace." (or "Hail his victory"Democrat and Chronicle 5/23/1995 Millar's interview with the Democrat and Chronicle took place on a Sunday afternoon about three weeks ago, after the community had finished a five-hour religious service led by the Rev. Millar, who describes himself as nondenomina-tional and "separatist." Millar was one of the closest friends of Snell, whose comments moments before his execution assumed an eeriering after the Oklahoma City bombing. "Hell has victory. I am at peace," Snell said. "Gov. (Jim Guy) Tucker, look over your shoulder, justice is on the way. I wouldn't trade places with you or any of your political cronies." Millar, who witnessed the execution, said the quotes were wrong." He said, 'Hail His victory.' " And as far as an apparent threat to Tucker, Millar said Snell simply meant that he would not want to be Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents raided a 224-acre compound of the Covenant, the Sword and the Arm of the Lord, a group linked to neo-Nazi groups in the West, the leader of the CSA summoned the senior Millar as a spiritual adviser for negotiations in a four-day standoff. One Drop of Blood: The American Misadventure of Race by Scott Malcomson (2000) ''Millar had visited Snell weekly during his ten years in prison and had seen much progress in the convicted man's spititual outlook. According to press accounts, Snell said before dying, "Hell has victory," and some took this as a reference to the bombing. Reverend Millar maintained Snell's words were, in fact, "Hail His victory"-the press version was "a definite misquote." Millar took Snell's body back to Elohim City for burial. Vibe, Nov 1997 - God City by Jonathan FranklinTabernacle of Hate: Seduction Into Right-Wing Extremism by Kerry Noble, 2010 Denver Post 4/18 - April 19 a nervous date by Howard Pankratz or "Hail the victory"The New York Times 5/20/1995 - Oklahoma City Building Was Target Of Plot as Early as '83, Official Says by JO THOMAS and RONALD SMOTHERSAberration in the Heartland of the Real: The Secret Lives of Timothy McVeigh by Wendy S. Painting, 2016 Full book (kindle .azw): http://libgen.io/book/index.php?md5=48400C2D8E60BE52E15606EB3595AEAE ). References